Protection of Women from Domestic

Violence Act, 2005

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Before the ACT

Before the enactment of the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (“DV Act”), the victim
could approach the court under Section 498-A of the
Penal Code, 1860 which provides for ‘husband or
relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to
cruelty’ wherein only a certain set of offence dealing
with cruelty to married women was the only recourse.
All other instances of domestic violence within the
household had to be dealt with under the offences that
the respective acts of violence constituted under the IPC
without any regard to the gender of the victim.

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That led to..

To minimize the cumbersome position of law, be it procedural
or substantive, the Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005 was enacted to protect the women from
acts of domestic violence.

The legislative intent was further emphasized by the Supreme

Court of India in the case of Indra Sarma v. V.K.V
Sarma, (2013) 15 SCC 755 wherein it was stated that the DV
Act is enacted to provide a remedy in civil law for the
protection of women, from being victims of such relationship,
and to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in the
society.

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Who can file a case under this Act and against who?
• The complaint of domestic violence can be filed by the ‘aggrieved person’.
Section 2 of the Act defines this term. It means a woman who has been in a
domestic relationship with the respondent (a man in a domestic relationship
with such women) and alleges that he has inflicted domestic violence upon
her. Domestic Relationship refers to a relationship between two people who
live or have lived together in a shared household, and are related by:
• Marriage,
• A relationship in the nature of marriage (like live-in relationships),
• Adoption,
• Are family members,
• Are related through blood relations.
• though Section 2 defines respondent as a man, the Supreme Court in the case
of Sandhya Wankhede vs. Manoj Bhimrao Wankhede held that the term
‘relative’ as used in the Act has a very wide ambit and a complaint against the
female relatives of the husband or the male partner can be made within its
purview.
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For Live-in Relationships

• There are certain requirements that must be fulfilled. D. Velusamy
v. D. Patchiammal. These are:
• Both parties must behave like husband and wife;
• They must have attained the legal age of marriage;
• They should qualify to enter into marriage;
• They must voluntarily live together in the same place for a
significant amount of time;
• They must have lived together in a significant household.

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What is DV
• Section 3 of the Act explains the term ‘domestic violence’ in
detail. It states that an act or omission will qualify as domestic
violence if it:
• Harms or injures health, safety, limbs ( body organs), life or/and
mental and physical well being of a woman. Such abuse can be
physical, sexual, economic, verbal and emotional.
• Harms, harasses, injures or endangers the aggrieved person to
coerce her or any of her family members to meet unlawful
demands like dowry.
• Causes any other physical and mental injury to the aggrieved
person.

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Abuses and its Types Deemed to be University

• Physical abuse: Use of physical force against a woman such that she suffers from bodily injury or
hurt. Physical assault, criminal intimidation (threaten to cause hurt) and criminal force (use force
upon a person to cause him/her injury) in the form of beating, kicking, punching, abandoning the
aggrieved person in a dangerous place, making use of weapons to threaten her, forcing her to leave
her matrimonial home, hurting her children, using physical force in sexual situations, etc.

• Sexual abuse: This is a form of physical force and includes any act in which a woman is forced to
perform any unwanted, unsafe or degrading sexual activity. It includes calling her sexual names,
hurting her with objects and weapons during sex and includes forced sex even by a spouse or
intimate partner with whom she has consensual sex.

• Emotional Abuse: Not all abusive relations involve violence and physical hurt. Many women face
emotional abuse which is equally destructive. It includes verbal abuse such as yelling name ­calling,
blaming, isolating, intimidating, showcasing controlling behaviour, insulting or continually
criticizing her.

• Economic Abuse: Economic abuse mainly includes a woman not being provided with enough
money by her partner to maintain herself and her children, through buying clothes, food, medicines,
etc. It also includes not allowing women to take up employment. Apart from this, forcing her out of
the house where she lives by not providing her rent, depriving her of financial resources she is
entitled to under any custom or law, restricting her access to shared household also falls in this
category. It also includes disposing or alienating her movable or immovable assets, valuables,
shares, securities and other properties in which she has an interest.

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Procedure
• Inform the Protection Officer – His duty to inform victim of the rights-
1. Such women have a right to make an application obtaining relief in the form of
protection order, monetary relief, custody order, residence order, compensation
order.
2. They also have a right to make use of the service provided by the available service
providers.
3. They also have a right to make use of the services provided by the protection
officers.
4. They have a right to free legal services under the Legal Services Authority Act,
1987.
5. They also have a right to file a criminal case under Section 498-A of the Indian
Penal Code.
Non-performance of Duties –
Liable to imprisonment upto 1 year and fine upto Rs. 20,000.

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Making a domestic incident report by the protection officer

• Upon receipt of domestic violence complaints, the
protection officer must make a domestic incident
report to the Magistrate. This report should also claim
relief for a protection order if the aggrieved person
desires. Such magistrate ( to whom the report is
made) would be Magistrate of 1st class or the
metropolitan magistrate who is exercising jurisdiction
in the area where:
• The aggrieved person resides temporarily,
• Respondent resides, or
• The place where domestic violence allegedly took
place.
• Forward Copies to Police In charge

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Application with the magistrate

The magistrate will fix the date of the first

hearing. Such a date is usually not beyond
three days from the date of receipt of an
application by the magistrate. Also, the
magistrate will endeavor to dispose of the
application made within 60 days from the
first hearing.

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Notice to the respondent

Notice shall be given to the protection officer who shall

inform the informant and any other person, prescribed
by the magistrate. This shall be done by the protection
officer within 2 days from the date of receipt unless an
extension is given by the magistrate.
Resorts-
1. Under Section 14 of the Act, the magistrate may ask the respondent or
the aggrieved party (singly or jointly) to undergo counselling with a
member of the service provider. Such a person must have experience in
counselling.
2. Under Section 15 of the Act, the magistrate can take the help of a person,
preferably a woman, for discharging his functions. Such a person should
preferably be working in the promotion of family welfare.

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Orders – Protection Orders

• Such protection order restricts the respondent from:
• Committing the act of domestic violence.
• Abetting in the commission of domestic violence.
• Entering the place of employment, school, etc. of the
aggrieved person.
• Attempting to communicate with the aggrieved person.
• Alienate any assets, bank accounts or lockers enjoyed by
either both the parties or the respondent singly, including
her Sridharan.
• Causing violence to any person who helped the aggrieved
person and provided protection from domestic violence.
• Committing any other act which is specified in the order
given.

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Orders – Residence Orders

• Such order may:
• Restrain the respondent from dispossessing or
distributing the possessions of the aggrieved person.
• Direct the respondent to remove himself from the
shared household.
• Restrain the respondent or any of his relatives from
entering the shared household of the parties where the
aggrieved person resides.
• Restrain the respondent from renouncing his rights in
the shared household.
• Restrain the respondent from disposing off the shared
household.

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Orders – Monetary Relief , Custody Order

• The magistrate may also direct the respondent to pay monetary
relief to the aggrieved person for expenses incurred and losses
suffered by her. Such relief may include (but is not limited to):
• Medical expenses;
• Loss caused due to destruction and damage of any property;
• Maintenance for the aggrieved person and her children.
• Custody Order
• The magistrate may also grant the custody of a child or
children to the aggrieved person or person making an
application on her behalf. He may also specify the visitation
arrangements as well. In case he feels that visitation by the
respondent would be harmful to the child, the magistrate may
even refuse to allow such a visit.

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Duty of the Court

• The court must give the decision keeping in mind that the
helpless aggrieved person has approached the court in
compelling circumstances.
• It should also be ensured that the court scrutinizes the
facts from all angles. It must take efforts to ensure
whether the plea advanced by the respondent to nullify
the grievances of the aggrieved person is legally and
factually correct.
• The court of law must uphold the truth and aim at
delivering proper justice
• Before throwing a petition at the threshold on the grounds
of maintainability, the court must see that the aggrieved
person is not faced with a situation of non-adjudication.

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Still Issues persists

• Offence – only civil not criminal
• Protection Officers not well qualified
• Law discriminates on the context of who can
be a complainant – Why only woman?

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